Correspondents say his stated allegiance is an apparent snub to Islamic State (IS) militants.

IS is challenging al-Qaeda to lead worldwide Islamist militancy.

Announcing the formation of “al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” using a mixture of his native Arabic and Urdu widely spoken in Pakistan, Zawahiri appeared eager to regain some of the limelight, correspondents say.

“[Al-Qaeda] is an entity that was formed to promulgate the call of the reviving imam, Sheikh Osama Bin Laden. May Allah have mercy upon him,” Zawahiri said.

He urged the “umma”, or Muslim nation, to “wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty and to revive its caliphate”.

Zawahiri said “al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” would be good news for Muslims in Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh and in the Indian states of Assam, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, where they would be rescued from injustice and oppression.